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FCG International Literature 2003: Guillermo Cabrera Infante

 The writer Guillermo Cabrera Infante, obtained the FCG International Award in Literature 2003, pronounced today, July 4, 2003, in Valladolid for "The work and the person, Guillermo Cabrera Infante, that come together in a vanguard concept of literature and with an exemplary moral attitude. As an expert in popular Cuban music and with a passion for films, he knows how to combine the diverse arts in his creative speech full of richness and usefullness" by the jury presided by: Ms. Rosa Pereda, writer and journalist; Mr. Jose Miguel Santiago Castelo, Sub-Director of ABC; Mr. Angel Sanchez - Harguindey, Assistant Director of El Pais; Ms. Paz Ramos, Director of the Program of RNE "Ojo Critico"; Mr. Cesar Hernandez Alonso, Spanish Language Professor at the University of Valladolid.

 Guillermo Cabrera Infante - Biography

Guillermo Cabrera Infante, Narrator and essayist, was born on April 22, 1929 in Gibara, province of Oriente, Cuba. He was born into a committed family, his parents were the founders of the Communist Party in Cuba, with whom he emigrated to Havana in  1941.

His career as a writer began in 1947, he left his studies in the Faculty of Medicine and began to work as a writer for the magazine Bohemia.

In 1950, he enrolled in the School of Journalism at the University of La Havana.

The cinema represented an important part of his life and he founded in 1951, together with Tomas Gutierrez Alea and Nestor Almendros, the Film Library that he presided over until 1956.

In those times he was already crucial opponent to the Batista regime, and was detained in 1952 for the publication of one of his stories.

In 1953 he got married for the first time, and one year later, began to write under the pen name G. Cain, the film critic in "Carteles" (Posters), a popular weekly publication that made him the chief editor in 1957.

In 1959, after the triumph of the Revolution, he was the Director of the National Culture Council while, at the same time, he was the Sub-Director of the daily publication "Revolucion" (Revolution). During that same year, he founded and directed a cultural weekly publication "Lunes de Revolucion" (Mondays of Revolution) that was closed by the government in 1961.

In 1960 he published his first important title "Asi en la paz como en la Guerra" (In Peace as in War).

At the end of 1961, he got married for a second time to the actress Miriam Gomez.

In 1962 he traveled to Belgium as a cultural assistant and later as the business manager.

In 1964 he won his first international award with "Tres tristes tigres" (Three tired tigers), the Award of the Library Breve, of Seix Barral. With the atmosphere in Havana in 1958, the story revolves around the experiences of a group of young Cubans, the majority of which belong to the world of the night life. The characters talk about the jargon of jazz, the Afro-Cuban, the "petits bourgeois" and a myriad of other words.

When his mother died, he returned to Cuba in 1965 and was retained by the Counter-Intelligence Service, being able to later leave the country, after renouncing his diplomatic position.

After a time in Madrid, he made London his home, the city where he currently lives.

In 1970 he traveled to Hollywood for the filming of his script Banishing Point. Since then, he has done collaborations with the film industry, such as, the script of Bajo el volcán (Under the volcano) by Joseph Losey.

His collection cinema articles is quite interesting, written collaborations between 1954 and 1960, under the title Un oficio del siglo XX (A occupation of the 20^th century) in 1973, and the combination of essays about Orson Welles, Hitchcock, Hawks, John Huston and Vicent Minneli, together in Arcadia todas las noches (Arcadia every night) in 1978.

About popular music he published Formas de poesia popular (Forms of popular poetry) (1975). Other works are: Exorcismos de estilo (Exorcisms of style) (1976), homage to Raymond Queneau, where he experiments with language; and Holly smoke (1985), a work written in English. From the point of view of his relation with the Castro regime, his most moving work is Mea Cuba (1992). In 1995 Delito por bailar el chachacha (Crime for dancing the chachacha) and in 1996, Mi musica extremada (My extreme music).

 In 1997 he published an essay about the cinema titled Cine o sardina (Cinema or sardine) and in December of that year he was awarded the Cervantes Award.

 Towards the end of May 1999 El libro de las ciudades (The book of cities) came out, a compilation of chronicles of the Cuban writers travels. That same year a compilation of narratives was published, written between 1952 and 1992, titled Todo esta hecho con espejos (Everything is done with mirrors). In the year 2000, Puro humo (Pure smoke) was published, a mix of an autobiography of an addicted smoker, cinematic catalog "of films, actors and music with smoke" and a guide to know how to smoke cigars.

 He was a Professor at the Universities of Virginia and West Virginia and a conference speaker at other American Universities, including Oklahoma. He is a Doctor Honoris Causa by the International University of Florida and possesses the Sancho IV medal from the Complutense University of Madrid.

 Works: 

Asi en la paz como en la Guerra. (In peace as in war) (1960)

Un oficio del siglo XX (An occupation of the 20th century) (1963)

Tres tristes tigres (Three sad tigres) (1967)

Vista del amanecer en el tropico (View of the tropical sunrise) (1974)

O (Or) (1975)

Exorcismos de esti(l)o (Exorcisms of style) (1976)

Arcadia todas las noches (Arcadia every night) (1978)

Cuerpos divinos (Divine bodies) (1979)

La Habana Para un Infante Difunto (Habana for the dead prince) (1979)

Holy Smoke (in English) (1985); published en Spanish (2000)

La proxima luna (The next moon)(1990)

Mea Cuba (1992)

Delito por bailar el chachachá (Crime for dancing the chachachá )(1995)

Ella canta boleros (She sings boleros) (1996)

Cine o sardina (Cinema or sardine) (1997)

Vidas para leerlas (Lives to be read) (1998)

El libro de las ciudades (The book of cities) (1999)

Todo esta hecho con espejos (Everything is done with mirrors)(1999)